Precious Strangers
by SweetAmberkins
Summary: Exiled Zuko and Uncle make their way to Ba Sing Sei for a new life, along with some other nobles from other nations. It seemed only fateful that he would fall for the one girl who had the one thing he wanted most. R&R! UNDERGOING REWRITE!
1. Ferry to BaSingSe

It had been months, if not years, since she last saw civilization, and it wasn't what she had expected. Waiting for a ferry to Ba-Sing-Sei in a cave, sat a young girl, with her friend and motherly figure. There were hundreds of people waiting for the next ferry, and they still had to get their passports. The youngest girl stood up and went to the high counter where the ferry official sat. She waited for the next person to be called when the official screeched at her, waking her from her daydreams of a new life.

"Next!" The haggard old lady shouted. The girl stepped up to the counter, and asked for three passports, but the old lady would not budge.

"Identification?"

"I have none Madame." The young girl said, looking down at her feet. The old lady didn't hesitate with her next words.

"Next!"

The young girl's friend came to her rescue, swiftly holding her wrists together with her pulse points facing the official. The two dark markings next to each other made one symbol, and the transport official's eyes shot open.

"I am so sorry miss, I did not realize…"

"May we have our three passports? Or must I have someone replace your post?" The dark haired girl asked politely, and threateningly.

"Of course, Miss Souretsu."

The official pulled out the passports, signed and stamped them within seconds.

"Enjoy your stay in our city." The old lady smiled and waved them on their way. She shouted for the next customer to step up as they were twenty feet away.

"I mean really, do I have to save you every time Amai?" The dark haired girl said.

"I'm not going back, my father has people everywhere. If I had shown my marks, I would've been dragged back kicking and screaming, Karei."

They looked at each other and laughed. They had no idea how long it was since Amai had left the Northern Water Tribe, but they were soon to find out.

"Chijin! We have our passports!" Karei shouted as they were nearing their guardian and minder.

"Good. Now we wait for the ferry."

Chijin smiled, and placed a mat of hers on the floor to sit on. If they had not all been from different nations, they would've been easily passed as family, or at least Chijin and Karei. Chijin was from the Fire Nation, but had left her nation so many years ago that she had forgotten about it. Karei was an earth bender; her family was one of the richest in the Earth Kingdom. And Amai was a water bender, born to the general of the Northern Water Tribe army. Karei and Chijin looked so much alike; long, straight dark hair and pale skin, except their eyes were green and amber respectively. Only Amai was different. Her hair was dark ashy blonde, which could pass for brown in the cave they were in, and the dirt that had embedded itself there. Her eyes were a soft aqua color, very close to grey and her skin was pale like Chijin's, so different from the rest of her Water Tribe. But they had been together so long, and grown so close, that even their differences paled to the family-like bond they had.

"Two years now, that you have joined us Amai." Chijin said, patting to two open places next to her for the girls to sit down.

"Two years? Have you seen a calendar?" Amai asked. Chijin pointed towards the opposite wall, where a large canvas hung with the yearly calendar.

"And so close to six years since I found you, Karei."

Chijin wrapped her arm around Karei for a half armed hug, and then did the same with Amai.

"I'm so proud of you both. We will do well in this new city; I can feel it in my heart. We will not have to run anymore." Chijin smiled again, and dug in her sack for some food. Amai took some bread from Chijin, and thought of all the things that had brought her this far.


	2. Run Away

Two years earlier, Amai was in her room, alone. She was lying on her bed, crying for the fourth time that week. Her father had betrothed her to someone she had never met, never even seen. She picked up a china vase on her table and threw it angrily at the wall, making it shatter loudly.

"Amai? Amai what's wrong?" Came a worried, male voice from the other side of her door.

"Go away, Kishin! I will not speak to you!" Amai shouted.

"Amai, don't be so childish. You're fourteen years old, it's about time you got betrothed; it would look bad for our family if you didn't."

She looked up from her folded arms and at her closed door. She heard her brother slide down the door and sit on the ground.

"Look who has the audacity to question it! You have broken how many betrothal contracts!" Amai shouted, making her maids scurry out of sight.

"Silly contracts. Easily broken. But for your contract, it's slightly harder, and there is just one solution." Kishin said softly, not to alert any of Amai's maids inside her quarters. Amai got up from her bed, and sat opposite her brother on her side of the door.

"Tell me brother; I will always be grateful to you." Amai whispered.

"Run away."

Amai gasped, but not loudly enough to alert her maids.

"Brother, I don't think I can do that. I cannot just leave my family…not just for this. I will just have to endure…" Amai sighed, getting up and opening the door for her brother. She opened one half of her double doors, to see her brother still sitting against the other half.

"You have not seen your betrothed. If I were you, I would run away while I can." He laughed and got up from the ground, dusting off his hands on his pants.

"I would rather see you an old spinster before I see you married to him." Kishin joked and pulled his sister in for a hug.

"Promise me you'll come back Amai, only after the contract with your betrothed breaks." Kishin whispered through his sister's hair before letting her go.

"I will brother, I promise. What will you say to father?" She asked.

"You needn't worry about that. I will figure something out."

Amai smiled and went into her room. She told her maids to leave her and her brother alone. After the maids had left, Amai pulled out a rucksack from her armoire and put it on her bed. She packed very little clothes, and only the bare essentials.

"I will miss you so brother. Don't let Hiryu get to you. And say goodbye to Yue for me."

Kishin nodded, and hung his head. Amai slung her backpack on to her back, and walked to their front door. Kishin followed in silence, it was getting late, and her father was bound to come home any minute, but luckily it was still six months of day. Amai stood at her door, fastening a water skin to her backpack straps, looking down their street. No one was to be seen, but there was an eerie silence hanging over their city.

"Brother, there is something happening…." Amai said softly, only to be interrupted by a loud explosion outside their walls. They looked at the plume of smoke erupting from the wall, and heard someone shouting for Kishin.

"Kishin! The Fire Nation has invaded! Hurry!"

They saw a young boy running towards them, and Kishin pushed Amai behind him.

"Tell Hiryu I will be there shortly."

"Amai must attend to the healing huts. They need more benders."

The boy ran back to the fortress he was sent from and Kishin pulled Amai into the street.

"Go quickly. I will tell father later."

"But Kishin, they need healers."

"Go now Amai! Everything will be fine. The Fire Nation will never invade this city."

"Brother…"

"GO AMAI!" He pushed Amai hard on her back and down the street. Amai turned to look at her brother, but he was already running in the opposite direction towards his fortress. Amai hung her head and pulled on the hood of her white coat. They would never see her escape the city with her wearing a white coat. She ran towards the city walls, heading for the gate that opened towards the land. Five guards stood present, and she hurried towards them.

"Stop civilian! All benders must attend fortresses or healing huts."

She looked up, showing her pale face and shocking eyes.

"Lady Amai. You should not be here…"

"I know, but you're not going to stop me."

The guard stood ready, but Amai rapidly lifted snow on stuck them to walls.

"Lady, you can't leave!" One of the guards shouted as she disappeared into the snow. She turned, letting them see how far she was.

"Goodbye." She said, swinging her arms around her head and then she was gone in a cloud of cold mist.


	3. Wounded Travelers

As she stood on top of the hill, she saw the Fire Nation ships on the sea. She shook her head, she could've helped with the fighting, not only healing. Stupid Northern Water Tribe customs. As she stood watching the Fire Nation throwing balls of fire at their city walls, she heard voices coming up behind her.

"What is that noise?" She heard a young voice, and another voice answer.

"It sounds like war." A soothing, mature voice said. Amai spun around, and saw two people heading up the hill towards her. They were not Water Tribe, they wore Earth Kingdom colors. She stood ready, opening her water pouch silently. She bended the water out, and waited for the strangers to see her. The woman looked up, and saw the young girl above her, bending water for defense.

"Oh my, Karei. It looks like we may have found trouble."

The girl, Karei looked up and gasped when she saw the water bending girl. She had evidently not seen her with her white coat.

"A water bender! Neat! Maybe she can join us, Chijin."

Chijin smiled, and carried on towards Amai. Chijin stood next to Amai, and saw the Fire Nation ships.

"Fire Nation. They have become so corrupted with power." Chijin said thoughtfully, and turned to leave the way she came. Karei stood motionless, still looking at Amai holding her bended water at the ready. Karei shrugged and followed Chijin again. Amai quickly bended her water back into the pouch and ran after them.

"Wait! Strangers!" Amai shouted, sliding down the snowy hill. The two strangers stood still, and saw Amai slide between them. She bended the snow to help her up and placed herself in front of them.

"I am Amai, who are you?" She asked politely, but was ready in case they tried anything.

"I am Chijin, and this is Karei." The woman named Chijin said, pointing towards Karei.

"Are you travelers? Why did you come to the North?" Amai asked again, trying to hide her inquisitiveness.

"We are indeed travelers. We came to the Northern Water tribe in search of a healer for Karei and some food."

"I can maybe help. I have healing water from the spirit oasis and a little food."

Chijin nodded and smiled, but Amai looked like she wanted to say something else.

"Yes Amai? It looks like you have something to say." Chijin asked.

"Yes well, you see, I…may I travel with you?" Amai asked politely.

Chijin's eyes widened a little, but Karei started smiling. Chijin looked at Karei's silly smile and agreed.

"Of course you may, as long as you play your part."

Amai smiled and followed as they started walking again. They walked south-west, towards the smallest gap between the North Pole and the Earth Kingdom. They walked for four hours, until Karei could no longer walk.

"I will make us shelter." Karei said, but she could barely stand. Chijin held Karei's head as she lay down in Chijin's lap. Chijin looked at Amai, and Amai knew she would have to make shelter. Amai bended the snow, arcing her hands gracefully, until she had made an igloo, big enough for the three of them. Chijin helped Karei inside the igloo and got ready to settle down for some rest.

"Chijin, you said that Karei needed some healing? What exactly is wrong?"

Karei winced in pain, and nodded for Chijin to tell the story.

"Karei was hurt four years ago when Fire Nation took over her village. They captured her parents and she wanted to fight them off, but she got the bad end of their temper…" Chijin delicately took off Karei's jacket and lifted her shirt. There was a raw, open wound that seemed only to be days old over her ribs, shoulder and arm.

"I have been treating it, but it only seems to get worse." Chijin said.

Amai dropped her rucksack, and dug around in it for a minute before pulling out another water skin. It was a fairly big pouch, almost as big as her water bending skin. She opened it carefully, and bended out small bubble of water.

"This should feel really cold and tingly, but it should work." Amai said, waiting for Karei to give her approval. She nodded, but looked in the opposite direction when she started spinning the water. Amai spun the water so fast it flattened out until it was big enough to cover her whole wound. She gently dropped the water on the wound and bended the water in a massaging motion until it fully absorbed into the wound.

"There. Another healing session and you should be all fixed up." Amai stood up, and put her healing water in her backpack. Karei looked at her wound, and saw it looked much better. It had new skin growth already, and it was less red.

"When can we have another healing session?" Karei asked.

"In three or so days. It needs time to work."

Karei smiled and rolled over to go to sleep.

"Thank you Amai. I am eternally grateful." Chijin said, and bowed her head. Amai smiled and settled down to sleep.


	4. Trouble Makers

"Amai!" Karei was snapping her fingers in front of Amai's face. Amai looked up, and the cave was emptying fast.

"What's happening?"

"The ferry is here! Grab your stuff!" Karei shouted. A horn sounded on the boat, that it was about to leave. Amai grabbed her backpack, and took Chijin's mat and rolled it up while they were running for the ferry. They were the last people on, and Chijin was right in front of them. They showed their passports as they ran onto the gangway and found an empty spot on the deck. After they had put down their stuff and settled, a ship worker came past and handed them each a bowl of muck that resembled pond scum.

"There." The man said huffily, carrying on to the other passengers. Amai looked at the stuff that resembled food and smelt it before putting it on the ground.

"How could we eat that? It smells as bad as a playtapusbear in frogfish season." Amai said disgustedly, and stuck her tongue out. She slid it across the deck to make sure that the ship worker stood in it. When he did, the bowl shattered and cut his foot open, making him curse and shout.

"Which ungrateful delinquent did this? Answer me, you worthless peasants!" He shouted, trying to bandage his foot with a scrap of cloth.

"I'm not surprised more people haven't done it. How can you feed this to anyone, let alone new citizens to your city? What a first impression to make." Karei said sarcastically and threw her bowl at the worker, hitting him in the face with the muck. He swore loudly, and threatened her, before a crowd of other workers came and dragged him away.

"You are causing a lot of trouble ladies." Chijin laughed and took some dried fruit out of her bag for the girls. Before they each took a handful, a boy with dark hair came up to them, looking mischievous.

"Looks like you ladies could use a decent meal. Maybe I could help you out with that."

Karei and Amai looked at the boy who spoke; he was going to cause trouble. Amai and Karei stood up and spoke to the boy.

"Oh? You can find decent food on this ship?" Amai asked, curious about him.

"Yeah, the captain eats like a king on this ship, and there's plenty to go around. We just need more people to help."

Amai and Karei looked at each other. It was only one day on the ship, but they hadn't had a cooked meal in over two weeks.

"Fine, we're in."

"Great. I'm Jet by the way. And I think we could get enough food for eight. So let's talk plans."

As soon as the guards had gone to their quarters, they snuck up onto the captain's deck and broke into his personal dining room. There were six of them, Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, Lee, Amai and Karei. They saw the spread of food that was laid out for the captain and immediately started picking up bowls and platters. Lee and Jet used their swords to pick up bowls and fit them into each other. Amai smiled at Lee, he had a scar on his face, and it looked exactly like something that the Fire Nation would do to a kid.

"Way to go, Lee." Amai smiled at him, grabbed her bowls and tied a belt around them. They quickly swung onto the rope they had spanned to the lower deck to get away before the guards came back. Amai grabbed three bowls and headed towards Chijin.

"Hey Amai, aren't you going to join us?" Jet asked.

"No thanks, looks like you have a party going already. We'll see you guys in the city." Amai and Karei went down the deck to Chijin, who was sitting in the dark watching the people around her sleep.

"Looks like those boys are fun. Who was the other boy that joined you?" Chijin asked softly, taking a bowl of rice from Karei.

"Oh that guy. Poor boy had a scar on his face; looks like Fire Nation did it."

Chijin held her bowl for some stew that Amai was secretly bending into the bowls.

"Unfortunate boy. What's his name?"

"Lee. He and his uncle are sitting over there."

Chijin looked over to the spot where they were sitting, and saw two ever familiar faces, but only one had really changed.

"Fire Nation…" Chijin sighed loudly and helped herself to some dumplings.


	5. New Life

When the boat docked the next day, people flooded out and into the train station that would take them into the city. Karei went to buy tickets while Chijin and Amai sat on a stone bench waiting for her. Amai looked around for the boys from the previous night, but couldn't see them anywhere. She shrugged and saw Karei bring their tickets back.

"Train should be here soon. Here we go." She handed them both a ticket and sat next to them.

"I was thinking, maybe we could open a restaurant. I could find us a nice house with a shop on the bottom floor. How does that sound girls?" Chijin said, watching the crowd in the station.

They both smiled and nodded. They could both cook well now, thanks to Chijin and her training. It would be great fun starting a business together, especially when it was only the three of them.

"Maybe we could make that herbed garden soup of Chijin's our signature dish."

"Oh nonsense. It isn't that good." Chijin blushed.

"Oh yes it is!" Amai and Karei chimed together. The train ground to a halt in front of them, and they boarded with the bustling crowd. Beyond the first city wall was farmlands, and another wall. It was confusing to have so many walls, but it must've served a purpose. Beyond the second wall were small houses, and yet another wall. The train stopped at the station inside the second wall, and once everyone had climbed off, it went back to the station outside the first wall. They stood inside the station, looking at the crowd dissipating into the city. But Karei, Amai and Chijin had no where to go. They didn't have friends or relatives to stay with for the night, and not much money.

"We will have to find the cheapest guesthouse that there is." Chijin said, taking out their money and counting it. They exited the station, and wondered down the street looking for notices or flyers for hotels.

"Oh look, there's one!" Amai shouted, pointing to a small guesthouse that was barely noticeable.

"Well spotted, Amai. Let's hear what their rates are." Chijin smiled, and headed towards the entrance. The guesthouse wasn't much, but at least it was clean and neat. Amai and Karei stood outside, waiting for Chijin to speak to the owner.

"So what do you think? New city, new life, no more _noblewoman_ worries. How does it feel?" Karei asked of Amai.

"Well so far, it feels good. We'll just have to find a place to open the restaurant." Amai sighed and saw Chijin leave the counter where the owner stood.

"The owner said that we are welcome to stay as long as we want, and he'll charge us once we have our own place and enough money." Chijin smiled, and showed Karei and Amai to their room. It wasn't big, three beds and a bathroom, but it was enough for the time being. Amai and Karei dropped their stuff on their beds, and made to leave again.

"Wait girls, aren't you going to clean up first?" Chijin asked.

"No, we're going to find a place to open our restaurant, we'll clean up later." Amai said, and they left the guesthouse to venture down their street. They walked around for about half and hour before finding a shop that had a notice on it. It was close to the third wall, and a huge gate that let nobles in and out.

"TO LET. Shop and house for very low rates. Enquire inside for details." Karei read the notice aloud and went inside, followed by Amai. The shop was empty, with no customers in sight. There was banging somewhere at the back when Karei called for anyone. A grey old man stuck his head out of a doorway and scurried to them.

"Are you here to enquire about the shop to let?" He asked quickly.

"Yes sir. May we ask what the rates are?"

"Oh oh, here." He quickly gave them a piece of paper with all the rates and details of the shop and house. Karei read them through, it sounded like a good deal, and she wondered why the owner was letting it out.

"Sir, may I ask why you are letting this shop out; it seems like a good location, and close to the third wall gate. Are you not getting enough customers?" She asked, sounding worried that they might have to find a shop closer to the second wall.

"No my dear, on the contrary. We bought a house and shop inside the third wall, and we wanted to let this one out for extra income. The shop goes open the day after tomorrow and we're busy painting at the moment. So are you interested?" the old man asked, and suddenly the banging near the back of the shop stopped. Karei and Amai looked at each other. It was a good shop, and with the coat of paint the old man was talking about it would look brand new. They couldn't let an opportunity like this pass them up.

"We'll take it." Amai said quickly, leaving Karei's mouth hanging open.

"Excellent, excellent. Come by tomorrow and we can sign a contract." The old man smiled, and showed Karei and Amai out.


	6. Tea House

Amai and Karei ran to the guesthouse, and told Chijin the good news. Chijin was already folding Amai and Karei's clothes neatly and storing them in the armoire.

"What are you doing, Chijin?" Karei asked indignantly before sitting on her bed.

"We might as well make ourselves comfortable for our stay…"

Before Chijin could even think of finishing, Karei had already started babbling on about the shop, so fast that Chijin could barely catch a word she was saying.

"Karei, take a deep breath. Amai, tell me what she's going on about." Chijin asked, setting the clothes down to carry on later.

"We found a shop, Chijin. Not far from the innermost wall of the city. It won't cost much, and I'm sure we can twist the owners arm to let us pay after we're up and running."

Chijin sat silently for a while, not sure what to make of them finding a shop so fast. She tapped her chin, looking out the window absent-mindedly.

"Did the owner happen to mention any other details?" Chijin asked, still decisive.

"There is a house on the top floor…" Amai said cautiously.

Chijin sat silent again, thinking. She spoke sooner than the previous time, more optimism in her voice.

"So when can we go look at this shop?"

Karei jumped up so fast she was a blur. She hugged Chijin tightly, all the while squealing as loud as her voice would allow.

"Anytime! The owner is there till tomorrow, and he will want to see our guardian before signing a contract."

Chijin smiled, and told them to go buy ingredients for dinner. As they were walking down the alleys of Ba-Sing-Sei, they noticed the people were happy, and many of them were refugees from other towns hiding out from the Fire Nation raids. They bought a few vegetables for Chijin's stew before finding another way back to the guesthouse. On their new route they found a tea house, a block away from where their shop would be.

"Oh, smell that jasmine tea! It's the best I've smelt in years." Karei sniffed the air and grabbed Amai's hand to pull her into the shop.

"Karei, we don't have enough money…we only have enough left for one cup of tea."

"Well, that's enough. And if it's good we can get more money tomorrow and bring Chijin for a nice cup of tea."

Amai sighed deeply and surrendered to letting Karei pull her into the shop. There were only two occupied tables at the moment, and they took the third. There was a commotion in the back of the shop, it sounded like they were training new staff.

"Here, like this, Lee."

A short, old man with a pointy beard appeared out the back and immediately and spotted the two girls. He was instantly at their side, looking inquisitive and curious.

"May I take the two loveliest ladies in the house's order?" The old man smiled.

"One cup of jasmine tea, please." Karei smiled at the old man, and then looked at Amai.

"Oh no thank you, I don't like tea very much." Amai smiled.

The old man looked offended and hurt at the same time, and then smiled at Amai.

"Wait until you've tried my honeysuckle tea. It's a sure winner."

Amai smiled at him, and then let him down easy.

"Sorry sir, but we only have enough money for one cup of tea."

The old smiled at them again, and then bent down and whispered to Amai.

"I'll make you two cups for the price of one. Because after my honeysuckle tea, you'll be sure to come back."

Amai and Karei both smiled, and then the old man went into the back and was speaking to someone else again.

"Those nice girls that were on the boat with us are here."

Amai and Karei looked up suddenly, they thought that the old man looked familiar, and now they knew where he had come from. A head poked around the corner, and Amai saw the scarred face of Lee looking at them. Before she could wave, he had pulled his head back out of sight.

"And they're so polite." The old man finished off.

"Oh my word, it's Lee. From the boat." Amai gasped.

"All the more reason to come back." Karei smiled and winked at Amai.


	7. PiShou Cafe

All the effort spent over the last few days had finally been paying off. After Chijin had signed a lease contract with the owner, they moved in and started fixing up the shop. Chijin, Karei and Amai had worked day and night for the past six days to get to a point where they could distinguish it was a shop.

"I think it looks great! Now all we need are customers. And a name." Karei said to herself, standing at the door of their restaurant looking inside.

"How about the Pi-Shou Café?"

Karei turned suddenly and saw the old man that worked in the tea shop approaching her. He marveled at their shop and stood beside Karei.

"That's a really good name." Karei stood and looked at the shop and tried to figure how big the sign should be.

"Is the shop open yet?" He asked.

"Yes. Amai is inside waiting for customers." Karei answered and showed the old man inside. As the old man entered, Amai was standing at the entrance of the kitchen looking at someone else. Then she recognized the old man and immediately greeted him.

"Sir. Welcome." Amai smiled and took one menu off the counter and handed it to him.

"Please, call me Mushi. Sir is so formal." The old man smiled and took the menu.

"Well Mushi, I should offer you a free bowl of our herbed garden soup as repayment for that honeysuckle tea, which was delicious I might add."

Mushi laughed heartily and sat at a table in the middle of the shop.

"It's the deal breaker for any person who dislikes tea." Mushi said, and looked at the menu. Amai was on her way to the kitchen to get a bowl of soup, Karei right behind her with a bowl of paint and a brush.

"Oh I'll take some of these sweet dumplings for dessert." Mushi said loudly to Amai who had already entered the kitchen.

"No problem."Amai said as she exited the kitchen with a steaming bowl of soup. She placed in front of Mushi, and he took a whiff of the soup.

"It smells delicious. And so familiar. Where did you get the recipe?" Mushi asked as he took the spoon and sampled it.

"My guardian, Chijin. She's been making it for us for a long time. But she won't give us the recipe. She says it's been in her family for years." Amai said. Mushi almost choked on his soup when Amai told him the story.

"Oh sorry, must I get some water?" Amai jumped from fright and ran to the kitchen. She was back just as quickly, putting the glass in Mushi's hands.

"Thank you." Mushi gasped and sipped on the water.

"Is the soup too hot? Too salty?" Amai asked quickly.

"No, no, not in the least. I was eager to try it, a little too eager I guess."

Amai laughed loudly and went back to the kitchen for the sweet dumplings. When she came back, Mushi had eaten all of his of his soup and was smiling happily.

"The soup was delicious. I can't wait to try the dumplings." Mushi smiled, and took the plate from Amai. He smelt it eagerly and popped one in his mouth.

"Oh delicious. Your shop will definitely do well if you keep on cooking like this." Amai smiled broadly and took his empty bowl to the kitchen.


	8. Order Up

After a few months, their shop had gone from a grand total of three customers in their first day to people queuing outside to get a table. Amai and Karei were still the only people that served tables there and they were just keeping up with the demands. Luckily all their hard work had paid off the people they had owed money. They had painted Pi-Shou boards onto the tables for decoration, seen as though they had named the restaurant 'The Pi-Shou Café'. But many people actually bought their own Pi-Shou pieces and played on the tables, which had made it a popular gathering place. Even Mushi had been back a couple of times, but never bought Lee with him. On this particular day, Amai had been serving a table of twelve people when she saw Mushi and Lee standing in the queue. She quickly took down the large table's order and put it through to the kitchen when she went outside to speak to Mushi and Lee.

"Afternoon Mushi." Amai bowed, and then turned to Lee.

"Afternoon Lee." Amai smiled.

"Hello." Lee said shortly, not entirely sure of what to make of Amai. He had met her only on the boat, and they were busy stealing food so they didn't exactly know each other.

"I'm sure I could find you a table, seen as though you are one of our valuable customers." Amai said to Mushi.

"Oh no need, we should wait like everyone else." Mushi said, bowing slightly.

"Nonsense, then what's the point of knowing the owners?" Amai laughed, and took them inside. One table cleared out after their meal, as Amai took them in. She told them to sit at the table and handed them menus.

"Anything you would like to order at the moment?" Amai asked, ready for their order.

"Two bowls of the garden soup. I think my nephew would like it." Mushi said, and Lee shot him a look.

"Coming right up." Amai said, going to the kitchen and getting their order.

"Why did you have to order for me uncle? I'm not twelve." Lee said angrily, folding his arms and turning slightly away from his uncle.

"I ordered you soup because I believe you would like it, Zuko."

"And what if I wanted dumplings?" Zuko huffed, and then turned on his chair to look completely away from Uncle.

Amai appeared in the kitchen, where Chijin was stirring the soup and watching the dumplings.

"Hey Chijin, that boy from the boat is here. He doesn't look happy that his uncle dragged him here though." Amai gabbed two bowls and bended some soup into them, then bended some parsley on top by bending the water in it. Chijin had frozen, spoon in hand, looking at the wall in front of her.

"Chijin what's wrong?" Amai asked, seeing that she had stopped.

"Nothing, I feel sorry for the boy. Scarred for life…" She sighed, and carried on with the soup. Amai shrugged and took the bowls to Mushi and Lee, which looked like they had just had a tiff. She put the bowls silently on their table, and made to leave again before Mushi stopped her.

"Oh, and please may we have some juice?" Mushi asked, and Amai smiled to go back to the kitchen. Zuko caught a whiff of the soup and turned wholly on his chair to face it.

"Uncle! This…this is exactly…" He breathed in the smell deeply, and grabbed a spoon to see if the smell matched the taste. As soon as the spoon was in his mouth, his face lit up and his eyes sparkled.

"Where in the world did they find this recipe? I thought…" And then Amai appeared next to them with two empty glasses and a jug of juice.

"Freshly bend…squeezed juice." She smiled, and Lee was eyeing her.

"Do you like the soup? Secret recipe." Amai smiled and winked, and Lee almost choked.

"It's great, somewhat familiar." Lee cleared his throat and then poured himself some juice. Amai smiled, and then turned to go serve another table, but Lee couldn't get over the taste of the soup.

"This soup is just like…just like mom used to make for me when I was sick."

"I told you Zuko, I knew you would like it." Uncle smiled and grabbed his own spoon.


End file.
